Russia’s oil shipments by sea collapsed in the first week since the G7 and EU sanctions against Russian oil came into effect on Dec. 5, Bloomberg reported on Dec. 20.
Total volumes exported from the country fell by 1.86 million barrels per day, or 54% during this period, according to the publication.
Crude volumes bound for China, India, and Turkey, the three countries that have become the only significant buyers of displaced Russian supplies, plus volumes for vessels that do not yet have a final destination, decreased to an average of 2.53 million barrels per day, Bloomberg wrote.
It was the first time in the last five weeks that these volumes have declined.
“On a four-week average basis, overall seaborne exports fell by 266,000 barrels a day. Shipments to Europe have dried up almost completely, while those to Asia also slipped,” reads the report.
This drop was partially caused by repair works at a Baltic port but there was also a deficit of ship owners willing to transport key cargoes from an export facility in Asia, Bloomberg reported.
The publication added that the data should be treated with caution, as weekly exports depend on the timing of cargo planning, weather, and even the quality of signals transmitted by the ships themselves.
An EU embargo on Russian seaborne oil and a $60 per barrel price cap on Russian crude came into effect on Dec. 5.
The U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia had banned Russian oil earlier.
Since the G7 countries, except for Japan, and the EU have banned the imports of Russian seaborne oil, the price cap is a measure intended mostly for countries outside G7 and the EU. Insurers for the global oil market will be forbidden to deal with Russian oil priced above the cap.
On Nov. 21, Bloomberg reported that Russia had already lost the vast majority of its oil market in the European Union’s northern countries even before an EU embargo on Russian oil came into effect.
